Connect to Zendesk Data from a Connection Pool in JBoss

CData JDBC drivers can be configured in JBoss by following the standard procedure for connection pooling. This article details how to access Zendesk data from a connection pool in JBoss applications. This article details how to use the JBoss Management Interface to configure the CData JDBC Driver for Zendesk. You will then access Zendesk data from a connection pool.

Create a JDBC Data Source for Zendesk from the Management Console

Follow the steps below to add the driver JAR and define required connection properties.

1. In the Runtime menu, select the Domain or Server menu, depending on whether you are deploying to a managed domain or to a stand-alone server, and click "Manage deployments" to open the Deployments page.
2. Click Add. In the resulting wizard, add the JAR file and license for the driver, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory. Finish the wizard with the defaults, select the driver, and click Enable.
3. In the Configuration menu, click Subsystems -> Connector -> Datasources. This opens the JDBC Datasources page.
4. Click Add and, in the resulting wizard, enter a name for the driver and the JNDI name. For example: java:jboss/root/jdbc/Zendesk
5. Select the driver that you added above.

6. Enter the JDBC URL and the username and password. The syntax of the JDBC URL is jdbc:zendesk: followed by a semicolon-separated list of connection properties.

   Connecting to Zendesk

   To connect, set the URL and provide authentication. The URL is your Zendesk Support URL: https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com.

   Authenticating to Zendesk

   You can authenticate using the Basic or OAuth methods.

   Using Basic Authentication

   To use Basic authentication, specify your email address and password or your email address and an API token. Set User to your email address and follow the steps below to provide the Password or ApiToken.

   • Enable password access in the Zendesk Support admin interface at Admin > Channels > API.
   • Manage API tokens in the Zendesk Support Admin interface at Admin > Channels > API. More than one token can be active at the same time. Deleting a token deactivates it permanently.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for an authentication guide.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Zendesk JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.zendesk.jar

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   A typical connection string is below:

   jdbc:zendesk:URL=https://subdomain.zendesk.com;User=my@email.com;Password=test123;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
7. Test the connection and finish the wizard. Select the Zendesk data source and click Enable.

More JBoss Integration

The steps above show how to configure the driver in a simple connection pooling scenario. For more information, refer to the Data Source Management chapter in the JBoss EAP documentation.